"'Lay down out o' that, ye lubber!' sez the Cap'n, sez he; 'don't ye see we're in dry dock? Get overboard an' see where the leak is.'
"So Hiram he tumbles down an' gets over the ship's side. An' as soon as he put his foot on the ground, he sez,
"'Wow; it are hot.'
"Then he looks around him, an' sets up another yaupin'.
"'Cap'n, Cap'n!' he yells, 'there's fish an' crabs an' lobsters all over the blessed island, an' every mother's son on 'em is cooked.'
"'In course they is,' sez the Cap'n, sez he, jess like he'd knowed all about it all the time; 'it were a earthquake down under the sea wot shoved this 'ere island up, an' the heat cooked them fish an' things. Stan' by to get 'em aboard there, some o' you, an' we'll have fresh fish an' lobster fur dinner.'
"Then the Cap'n he orders me fur to h'ist the ensign, w'ich the same I did. An' then the Cap'n sez he: 'I take possession o' this 'ere island in the name o' the United States o' Ameriky, an' I christens of it Crawley Island. Everybody give three cheers!'
"An' we give the cheers, an' then stood by fur to h'ist crabs an' lobsters aboard. Werry good. Hiram Duck he gits over the side, an' found the leaks easy enough; 'cos w'y, where the water were a-runnin' in when we was in the sea it were a-runnin' out all right now. Howsumever, it didn't seem to be no partiklar good fur to calk up the leaks, 'cos we was hung up on them rocks putty nigh a quarter o' a mile from the water, an' there weren't no way fur to git the bark afloat. But Cap'n Tom Crawley he sez, sez he: 'Git the water out o' her and calk up the leaks fust. Then we'll see ef we can't contrive some contraption fur gittin' her afloat.' Hiram Duck, bein' ship's carpenter, perposed as how we should take her masts out o' her, an' make rollers out o' 'em fur to run her down to the water. But the Cap'n sez he, 'You 'ain't told us how to h'ist her out from atwixt these 'ere rocks yet.' So Hiram he shet up like a clam wot'd bin stepped on.
"Waal, we was hung up there onto that island about two weeks, durin' w'ich time we got all the damidge done by the gale properly repaired. Havin' done so, the Cap'n he gives us a day off fur rest. About three o'clock in the arternoon o' that werry same day, all on a suddent we heered a tremenjis rumblin' an' roarin' under the island.
"'All aboard, quick!' yells the Cap'n.